Busan

We had a three day weekend this weekend, and as vacation time is hard to come by, we decided to spend the weekend at the beach. I went to the city of Busan with 2 friends from orientation and 2 of their coworkers. Busan is the second biggest city in South Korea and is famous for their Haeundae beach.

After almost missing our train (the train pulled away about a minute and a half after we boarded), we arrived in Busan early Friday afternoon. We stayed at a very nice little hostel in the University area of town.

We checked in and then headed to the beach. The weather wasn't great but going to this beach was an experience in and of itself. I have never seen so many people on a beach! Thousands of umbrellas lined up down the shoreline and yellow innertubes covered the water. Trying to play in the water without getting hit by a tube was nearly impossible.

After a few hours on the beach, we followed our Lonely Planet guide to a jjimjilbang, a traditional spa/sauna. There are huge rooms of different baths and saunas, with temperatures posted at each. It seems to be a family event, and the room was full of women of all ages. (the spas are seperated by sex).

For dinner we enjoyed some traditional Korean barbecue (not really barbecue by our definition... its meat cooked at the table and eaten wrapped in

lettuce). Its probably my favorite Korean food and this was the best I've had since I've been here.

We were lucky Saturday and had perfect beach weather. We spent the day at the beach, had seafood for dinner, and met up with some other teachers from orientation. All in all it was a good weekend, though now I am exhausted and resting up for a big week. We have to do evaluations of our students this week.. and as I don't know all of my students names this should be interesting.